Talking with Tim

The Baby Grands II

A couple of months ago, I heard the band The Baby Grands-thanks to friend of the blog, Bill Childs, one of the hosts of the indie kids music show, Spare the Rock, Spoil the Child. After hearing the band, I tracked them down Ben Rowell, one half of the band (along with Chuck Nash) and Rowell agreed to do an email interview. In November 2010, the self-described “children’s/family rock band” released its second album, aptly named The Baby Grands II-and that’s just one of the topics we covered. My thanks also to Kimberly Rowell, Backspace Records, Co-Director, for helping arrange this interview.

Tim O’Shea: How did the video for Robot come about-and do you find you’re expanding your fanbase through YouTube as well as other social media?

Ben Rowell: Videos can be really expensive, so we searched for a cost effective way of producing one. We found a freelance artist on the web over in Asia that was willing to create a video for us for next to nothing- and for what we paid, he did a great job. You Tube is just another way to increase fan base, although we feel that Facebook is the most efficient way to reach and expand our base.

O’Shea: How tough is it to create music that appeals to all the family, while not condescending to kids or structuring lyrics that are lost on them either?

Rowell: Both Chuck and I are very much kids at heart, and we also have a warped sense of humor. We really don’t do anything different musically than we would for adult music. Also, we try to find subjects to sing about that aren’t too cliche’ from a family music point of view. The last thing we want to do is dumb down any of the music/lyrics…

O’Shea: Can you talk about the musical background/history of the band and its members prior to forming The Baby Grands?

Rowell: Chuck and I have been touring musicians all of our adult lives. For the past eight years or so, we have both really been into recording. We both are very lucky to have studios at our homes. Chuck built out his garage-it is a fantastic drum room and instrument tracking room. My studio is more of a mixing studio, although I have done four complete albums there. We kind of have a cool symbiotic relationship.

O’Shea: How did the Discover Mills Mall Holiday Shopping Event event work out for the band?

Rowell: We found that trying to sell music to folks at the mall that aren’t looking for music, let alone kid’s music, is really difficult. It’s kind of analogous to the guy trying to sell you a back massage at the mall. You aren’t looking for one, so you walk by and ignore him. But if he is really persistent you might listen. So I was that guy. We did sell enough that it was worth the table fee, but it was a great experience. I could have slept for two days straight after that, though…

O’Shea: What led to the band’s involvement in the indie movie Running from WISHconsin?

Rowell: Kim [Rowell] google alerts all kinds of things and one of them is to alert her when indie movie makers are searching for music. Indie musicians and indie movie producers need each other. We love to help each other out whenever we can.

O’Shea: Can you talk about the creative process of developing the most recent album, were there certain songs that were more challenging to finalize or others that came together more easily than you initially anticipated?

Rowell: As with any album there are songs that just seem to come together pretty easily and those that just linger. I had everything for Brain Freeze for almost six months but it was still missing something. When we finally came up with the line “It’ll make your head feel like 32 degrees,” we were finally done. The song Upside Down was particularly ornery. I think we re-wrote that chorus at least three times before it felt right.

O’Shea: Did receiving National Parenting Publication Award for 2009 help spread the word about the band?

Rowell: Yes, definietly. The NAPPA is our biggest accolade to date.

O’Shea: The record company, Backspace Records, devotes part of its profit to organ donation efforts, in memory of Mack Lindsey. Can you talk about the company’s partial charity focus?

Rowell: Mack was a heart transplant recipient and also our business investor. Mack was very generous in so many ways, not just to us, but to many people around the world. In his spirit, we donate a portion of our profits to those organ donation foundations that need the most.

O’Shea: What’s on the schedule for the band in 2011?

Rowell: Tour (dates being finalized now) and write a new album…